UMCOR Renews Commitment to Haiti a Year after the Quake

Date Posted:
2/3/2011

On the occasion of the first anniversary of the 2010 earthquake in Haiti, the United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR) renewed its commitment to walk “hand-in-hand” with the Haitian people on the long road to recovery.

Rev. Jim Gulley, an UMCOR consultant and a survivor of the earthquake, assisted at a memorial service at the site of the ruined Hotel Montana. Gulley had been trapped there with UMCOR colleagues and partners for more than 55 hours.

Rev. Sam Dixon, then UMCOR head, and Rev. Clinton Rabb, head of Mission Volunteers, died from injuries they sustained in the hotel’s collapse.

In an address to the Protestant Federation of Haiti, in Port-au-Prince, UMCOR International Disaster Response executive, Melissa Crutchfield, told the gathering, “We pledge to work with you to strengthen the livelihoods, shelters, education, and health of the Haitian people.”

And she added, “We commit ourselves to stand beside you as we navigate the holistic recovery of body, mind and spirit, so that all Haitians may not just survive, but thrive.”